Bacolod City – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas has approved a daily minimum wage hike of P33 to P40 for private sector workers, and P1,000 monthly for domestic workers, Department of Labor regional director Sixto Rodriguez Jr. disclosed on Wednesday.
For non-agricultural businesses with more than 10 workers, employees will receive an increase of P33 daily, increasing their salary from P480 to P513 per day, and a P35 hike for those with 10 workers or less, Rodriguez further said.
The current wage in Western Visayas for non-agricultural businesses with less than 10 workers is P450 daily. It will now be increased to P485, Rodriguez added.
Agricultural workers who are presently receiving P440 daily will have a salary hike of P40 per day, increasing their daily wage from P440 to P480.
Under the new wage order, the new daily minimum wage in Western Visayas will range between P480 to P513 per day.
While there was no petition for wage increases for Western Visayas domestic workers, Rodriguez said RTWPB-6 decided motu propio, to conduct a hearing, noting that the present P5,000 month they receive is the second lowest in the country.
The rates in other parts of the country are from P6,000 to P7,000, he added.
Under the newly approved wage hike, WV domestic workers, also known as kasambahays, will now receive a P6,000 monthly salary, an increase of P1,000 from the present P5,000, Rodriguez announced.
Frank Carbon, executive officer of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, however, said the wage increases will further drive up inflation in Western Visayas.
Expressing his opposition to the wage increase, as of this time, Carbon said the RTWP should, instead, look into how to bring down food inflation.
Rodriguez said the newly approved WV wage order will be submitted to the National Wages and Productivity Commission for review and approval.
It will take effect 15 days after publication, on or after November 16, or one year after the last WV wage hike was implemented.
Prior to its approval, the RTWPB 6 held public hearings on the wages of workers in private establishments and kasambahays on Oct. 21 at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City, after a series of hearings in Panay Island.
During the wage hearing in Bacolod City, the United Labor-Western Visayas, an alliance of labor groups, submitted a petition to the RTWPB-6 calling for a daily wage increase of P150. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star)